InsuranceFX for the insurance market
Currency exchange and international payments for the insurance market
InsuranceFX helps insurers, Lloyd's syndicates, MGAs, brokers and captives find out what they really pay to convert premiums, claims and reinsurance settlements, then get better terms from regulated FX and payment providers. We check your past conversions against the market mid, put live requirements to several providers without naming your firm and help you switch without missing a settlement.
FX cost review
How do we know if we are paying too much to convert premiums?
Compare the rate on each conversion with the market mid at the moment it was done. The gap, in basis points, is what you paid on top. Most insurance firms have never seen that number, because a bank confirmation shows one rate and no breakdown.
markup (bps) = |your rate − mid| ÷ mid × 10,000
Illustration, not a quote: an MGA sells a US$1,000,000 premium for sterling. The GBP/USD mid is 1.2700 and the bank converts at 1.2760. 0.0060 ÷ 1.2700 × 10,000 = 47.2 basis points, which is about £3,700 less sterling than at mid on that one premium.
Our cost review does this across 6 to 12 months of premium, claims and settlement conversions and shows the markup by currency pair, size and quarter, plus the receiving and payment charges around it. It costs your firm nothing.
Rate creep
Why does the same bank give us a worse rate each year?
Because the margin inside an exchange rate can widen a few basis points at a time once a provider knows you will not shop around. Nobody announces it and nothing on the confirmation changes except the rate, which moves every second anyway.
You spot it by charting your markup to mid quarter by quarter for the same currency pair and size. A line that steps up while your volumes stay similar is rate creep. On a large premium book even a few basis points shows up in the expense ratio.
After a review or a switch we re-check your main flows against fresh quotes, so your provider knows someone is measuring. How to spot rate creep
Blind quotes
Can an insurance firm compare FX providers without revealing who it is?
Yes. Send us one request with the currencies, amounts, flow and timing. We put it to several providers on our panel in the same window with your firm's name withheld, then show you every indicative price side by side.
Pricing the same trade at the same time is the only fair way to compare providers, because exchange rates move all day. A blind quote does that for you and keeps your current bank or provider out of it until you decide.
Quotes are indicative until your firm has been onboarded by the provider you choose, which runs its own checks. How blind quotes work
| What providers see | Currencies, amounts, the type of flow, timing, settlement needs, your firm type and domicile |
|---|---|
| What they do not see | Your firm's name, your clients, your markets, your current provider or your contact details |
| What comes back | Indicative rate, markup to mid at the time of quote, fees, receiving and payment charges, cut-offs and onboarding time |
| When your name is shared | Only when you choose a provider and ask us to introduce you, so it can run its own checks |
Switching provider
How do we switch FX provider without missing a premium or claim?
Keep your bank open while the new provider is tested. Nothing moves until small claims payments have settled cleanly, and volume moves in stages around the dates you cannot miss.
Those dates are specific to insurance: binder remittances to capacity, quarter-end premium accounts, reinsurance account settlements, claims payment runs and the month-end client money calculation. The plan works around them rather than through them.
The staged switching plan · Client money questions before you switch
Payment details change through verified channels only
Payment diversion fraud is the biggest risk in any switch. New collection details reach insureds, coverholders and markets through channels they can verify, never by email alone. InsuranceFX never sends, receives or changes payment details itself.
Your compliance officer signs off the client money position before any client money moves, and your existing approvals and payment controls carry over to the new provider.
- Stage 1BaselineA cost review of what you pay today.
- Stage 2Blind quotesYour real flows priced by several providers.
- Stage 3Checks and onboardingThe provider's own checks, client money sign-off and account set-up.
- Stage 4TestSmall claims payments and one premium flow, bank still open.
- Stage 5Move and re-checkVolume moved flow by flow, then compared with the baseline.
Flows we cover
Where does FX cost an insurance firm money?
In a handful of recurring flows: premiums that arrive in one currency while costs are in another, claims paid abroad, reinsurance accounts settled across currencies and captives funded by a parent in a third.
- Premiums in US dollars, euros and othersConvert now, hold, or match to claims, and how to stop your bank converting every premium automatically.
- Claims paid overseasPaying claimants, loss adjusters and repairers in their currency on the agreed date, without deductions on the way.
- Reinsurance settlementsPremiums, recoveries and cash calls across currencies, and where the conversion happens in each account.
- Captive fundingCapital and premiums from the parent, claims in other currencies and evidence of the rate for the board.
- Client money and FXWhat a broker or MGA's compliance officer should check before a new provider touches premium or claims money.
Who we work with
Which insurance firms is InsuranceFX for?
UK and Crown Dependency firms with regular cross-border flows: insurers and reinsurers, Lloyd's syndicates and managing agents, MGAs and coverholders, insurance, reinsurance and Lloyd's brokers, captives and captive managers, and claims handlers and third-party administrators. We work with finance directors, CFOs, credit control and claims finance teams, and the compliance officers who sign off client money.
For Lloyd's syndicates we say plainly where the Lloyd's own FX service is the sensible choice, and where an outside provider can still help.
- Insurance and reinsurance brokers
- MGAs and coverholders
- Lloyd's syndicates and managing agents
- Captives and captive managers
InsuranceFX is one word. It is not an insurance agency, it does not sell insurance for forex traders and it is not a retail currency service. It is a CommercialFX brand for professional clients in the insurance market.
Referral partners
Can captive managers and Lloyd's brokers refer clients to us?
Yes. Captive managers look after captives that are funded, paid and report in different currencies, and brokers see their clients' premium and claims flows every day. Both can refer a client for a cost review or a blind quote. The client stays yours, sees exactly how any fee is paid and decides for itself.
How we are paid
Who pays InsuranceFX?
Providers pay us, not your firm. When you choose a provider through InsuranceFX, that provider pays a share of what it earns on your conversions. We tell you how that works before you choose, so you can compare an all-in rate and see our share of it. We show you every quote we receive, including ones from providers that would pay us less.
A broker's compliance officer can use the same disclosure for their own conflicts checks. How we are paid
Your money
Does InsuranceFX ever hold our money?
No, never. Your firm contracts directly with the provider. Money moves between your firm's own accounts and the provider, which safeguards it under its own FCA authorisation. InsuranceFX never receives, holds or routes premiums, claims or any other client money, and never sends or changes payment details.
Safeguarding at a payment or e-money institution is not the same as FSCS deposit protection. The FCA's new safeguarding rules for those firms took effect on 7 May 2026. Where money sits at each step
Important
Who can use InsuranceFX and who makes the introductions?
InsuranceFX is for professional clients in the insurance market only. Introductions to providers are made through Introvisory Ltd, and every conversion and payment is carried out by the provider you choose.
We do not give advice on which product to use, we do not arrange insurance and we are not an insurer or insurance intermediary. Read the important information and how InsuranceFX works for who does what at each step.
Reviewed 2 November 2026 by the InsuranceFX team